To get over this election, pour a drink

It’s been a rough couple of years. No matter who you are or what your hopes and dreams are for yourself, your family, your neighborhood, and your nation, someone said something during this election season to make you feel unhappy, or unheard, or unrealized, or unsafe. We Americans can’t decide whether to vote for a man or a woman, whether Hillary’s a hero or a criminal, whether Trump’s success is fueled by hatred or fear, or whether we want more of a social safety net or none at all. We are caught between economic anxiety and our belief that everyone deserves a fighting chance to fulfill their potential. Come what may this Election Day 2016, we are so relieved that at least this season is over.

It’s not just us who will be celebrating the end of this election cycle. Tonight, they’ll be drinking on the top of the Empire State Building and they’ll be drinking in the South Dakota Plains. They’ll be drinking in the cop bar in Kansas and they’ll be drinking at Soho House. It’s significant not just because we’re all going to be doing it. It matters because at the end of the day, we’re all in this together. We all have things we need and things we’ve lost, things that the US could be doing better for us and ways we could be better citizens. At the end of the day, there actually is one thing we agree on: we all enjoy a good drink with friends.

Here at VinePair, we believe that drinking is culture. We believe that wine and beer and spirits enhance our lives and our friendships. Good drinks, especially when combined with good food and interesting conversation, bring people together. We urge you to take this opportunity to reconnect with people. Tonight, by all means enjoy a drink with a friend who shares your views, but once this election finally ends, maybe reconnect with an old friend you’ve lost over the course of the election — you know the one, you blocked them on Facebook a few months ago. Invite someone over for a glass of wine or ask them to grab a drink after work. We may not agree on everything, but if we’re willing to have a conversation, that’s at least a start. Let’s let this election end with a promise to be better neighbors to each other–with the help of a drink.

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